The first verse of the Tao Te Ching is one to be returned to, again and again ... The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao The name that can be named is not the eternal Name. The unnamable is the eternally real. Naming is the origin of all particular things. Free from desire, you realize the mystery. Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations. Yet mystery and …
Elizabeth’s Blog
Practice Notes: Truth & Practicality
It’s been quite a while since my last “practice notes” post. Partly this is because I’ve been deeply engaged, within the past couple of months, with a large writing project: the creation of a new book manuscript. So, the flow of my creative energy has been directed almost exclusively in this direction. And partly because there’s been such an abundance of, shall we say, “grist for the mill” …
Practice Notes: Formula One
I’ve never watched an entire Formula-1 race—just some highlights, every now and again. But the process—with all its high-speed precision, intricacy, and interrelated parts—fascinates me. To win an F1 race requires simultaneously high levels of performance from the car (with its multitude of parts and systems), the driver, the race engineer(s), and the pitstop crew—all responding skillfully to …
Bachelors & Buddhas: On The Validation Of Scientific & Metaphysical Claims
If we define “bachelor” as “an unmarried man” – then the statement “Every bachelor is an unmarried man” is true by definition. Given how we’ve defined our terms, it simply cannot be false. It is necessarily un-falsifiable. Hence, it really doesn’t make sense to call such a statement a “theory” or a “hypothesis.” It’s not something that can be proved or disproved empirically. It’s not a matter …
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Practice Notes: Carrot Juice, Grapefruit & Eggs
Groceries Needed just a few things the other day—carrot juice, grapefruit, and eggs—so headed over to Trader Joe’s. Now, of course, I ended up with a few other things also in my shopping basket, but still a fairly small haul, overall. Scanned for a short line at the registers—and spotted one completely open. Yeah! Placed my basket next to the clerk—a young guy, late-twenties, maybe. …
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Realisms Interlinked: A Preview
I’ve been dipping into the rather dense but fascinating book Realisms Interlinked: Objects, Subjects, and Other Subjects by Arindam Chakrabarti—a scholar who, with great facility, straddles the worlds of Indian and (analytic) Western philosophy. Mr. Chakrabarti’s overall project is to propose and defend a form of metaphysical realism. And while I—from my lay-woman’s perspective—remain agnostic …